Treading the River Styx
by Akemi-sensei
Summary: First the phone call...then the mysterious little girl...when trouble comes a knockin' what's a Ronin to do?


So…how's it goin'? This is my first submitted fanfic and something I did as a spur of the moment kind of thing. Let me know what you think if it so please you. Anyway, enjoy!

Don't Let the Rain Fall Down...

Everything was hazy at first. His vision blurry, mouth dry. All that was heard was a loud ringing sound coming somewhere to the right of him. Or, at least, he thought it was to the right of him. At the moment, he wasn't exactly sure where his north and south, east and wests were. But after a few more seconds, his senses began working again and the fuzziness he felt in his brain cleared. Sitting up straight, Rowan worked the kinks out of his neck. _Man_, Rowan thought, _I've really got to stop taking these after school naps...and on the couch too_. The blue-haired teen yawned again rubbing his eyes with the base of his palms. But then again, cold, rainy days always did make him feel a little tired.

Now feeling fairly awake, Rowan turned in the direction of the noise that had mercilessly woke him up. The phone. That _would_ explain the ringing. Rising reluctantly but steadily to his feet, Rowan crossed the short distance from the couch, or more appropriately his second bed, to the side table and picked up the receiver.

"Hello," his voiced still sounded half-asleep.

"Rowan." It was Sage. And he didn't sound too pleased. And it didn't take long for Rowan's brain to register why he didn't sound too pleased.

_I completely_ _forgot. _Rowan swallowed hard before replying. "Sage?"

"You mind answering your door. I've been standing here for at least fifteen minutes."

_Fifteen minutes! In this weather! What time was it!_ Rowan glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. 5:23. _Shit._ If Sage had been punctual—which he always was—he had been waiting for at least twenty three minutes...in the cold...and worse yet, in the rain. He was going to be skinned alive.

Not even bothering to hang up the handpiece, Rowan dashed to the front door in a time that would make even Olympic sprinters envious. Turning the bolt lock, Rowan grabbed the door handle and twisted, flinging the heavy wooden door open to reveal a very unhappy Sage, blonde locks limp and sticking to his face—damp but still brilliant gold, cell phone still held next to his ear in white knuckles. Wasting no time, Sage stepped through the entrance. Rowan stood there for a moment, debating whether it would be wiser to stay inside and face Sage or whether he should take his chances outside. Which storm was worse? Surrendering himself to his fate, he sighed and closed the door. Sage would just grab him by the collar if he tried to run anyway.

"How nice of you to let me in, Rowan," his voice was much too calm, much too smooth. Oh yeah. He was pissed.

Rowan scratched the back of his head, laughing sheepishly. "Hey buddy."

Sage said nothing back, but he didn't have to. The look he gave was full of promises of revenge, the painful kind of revenge. Sage pulled off his rain-soaked white trench, putting it heavily on the coat rack next to Rowan's _dry_, blue blazer and _dry_, black school jacket. Then taking off his shoes and putting them to the side, he stepped out the puddle he had made and— with a dignified huff, a huff that Sage and only Sage was capable of making—walked to the bathroom to get himself dried and cleaned up, sparing one final deadly gaze at his sleep-adicted friend.

Rowan let out a breath of relief. That was actually a lot less painful than he thought it was going to be. Maybe Sage wasn't as mad as he originally thought. It _did_ take quite a lot to make him angry afterall. Get annoyed easily, yes. But get truly angry, rarely. Then again, maybe Sage was just saving his payback for a later date.

The phone he had so haphazardly dropped in an attempt to get to the door as fast as he could was now hanging dejectedly from the twisted cord, beeping steadily—and rather unpleasantly. Rowan walked to the side table, picked up the receiver, and placed it back down on the phone, but no sooner had he done so then the phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rowan, it's Ryo. I've been trying to call for the last ten minutes but got nothing but a busy signal. Nothing's wrong is there?" One couldn't miss the concern in his voice.

Rowan shook his head. Leave it to Ryo to think a busy signal meant the end of the world. "No nothing's wrong."

"Hey, Ryo, lemme talk to him." It was Kento.

"Hey! I'm on the phone now. Stop grabbing!"

"Common! Just for a second."

The sound of scuffling followed.

"Alright, alright, here, sheesh," Ryo said giving in.

Rowan sighed. This was going to be fun. It seemed that the weather hadn't done anything to dampen Kento's spirit. But then again, Rowan wasn't sure if there was anything in all the universes, parallel universes, and universes parallel to the parallel universes that could dampen Kento's spirit.

"Hey, Rowan! What's with the busy signal? Talkin' to your _girlfriend_ maybe? You sly devil."

Rowan blushed despite himself, "W-w-wait a second—I—it's not like that—" Give him astro-physics and he could come up with theories and hypotheses in less than ten seconds. Give him girls and he was reduced to a fumbling, bumbling idiot.

"No need to worry Rowan, I understand. I told Ryo not to worry about it, but you know how he is. I swear, he's more of a mother hen than Cye is."

From somewhere in the back came, "Hey!" That was Cye.

Ryo's voice cut in, "Okay, give me back the phone. Your turn's over."

More scuffling ensued, followed by an 'oof', a crash, and the even voice of Cye gently admonishing both participants for their roughness. Rowan laughed. Would things ever change? Probably not.

Ryo came back on, "It's me again. Sorry about that. But, we were all wondering if you and Sage were still coming over. The storm's pretty rough outside."

He was right. The pounding of the rain on the livingroom window was indeed loud. "Well, as soon as Sage gets dried off and in some new clothes, we should be heading over there as long as he feels it's safe enough."

"Dried off? New clothes?"

Rowan laughed guiltily, "Yeah, well, you see, I kind of fell asleep on the couch, and so, when Sage came to my place, he was...kinda locked outside..."

"And you're still alive?" Ryo sounded amazed.

"He can't kill me yet. I still owe him twenty dollars from when he lent me that money to buy that one book I needed."

Ryo smiled. Every book he got his hands on, Rowan 'needed'.

"So anyways, I guess as long as the storm doesn't get any worse, we should be getting to your place in the next hour or so."

"Great!" Ryo exclaimed.

"So, I guess I'll see ya then."

"Yeah! See ya!"

Rowan put down the receiver for a second time and went to the bathroom to check and see how his very wet friend was doing. The door was closed, but Rowan could still hear the sound of his mom's blowdrying going at high power. He knocked.

"Hey, Sage," Rowan made his voice loud enough to be heard over the appliance, "Need anything?" The dryer turned off. Then there was a pause. Suddenly the door opened slightly. Still dripping clothes were shoved right into Rowan's face. It was clear what Sage meant: 'Dry these. Now.' It wasn't a request, it was a command. Rowan blinked at the bundle for a second before taking them. The door slammed shut and the sound of the hairdryer was heard once again. If Sage hadn't had such a good reason for his attitude, Rowan would have been slightly miffed. The warrior of Halo could act like such an aristocratic bastard when he wanted to.

Rowan made his way past the kitchen and into the laundry room absently thinking that he may want to make himself a cup of coffee before he and Sage left. He had woken up, but that didn't mean he was fully awake.

Opening the clothes dryer door handle, Rowan grabbed two fabric softeners (he was sure Sage would appreciate the gesture, therefore getting him that much closer to forgiveness) and threw them in being sure to check the lint trap. Nope, no lint. He was just about to toss in the water-logged designer clothes when suddenly, a ringing noise sounded from the pocket of Sage's pants. Rowan reached inside the slacks and pulled out a slim, silver cell phone. The youth thanked Lady Luck or whoever it was that had deemed him worthy of finding the phone before he threw it in the dryer.

Rowan flipped the phone open, reading the screen to see who it was calling. No name, no number. Strange, but not unheard of. Rowan pressed down on the green 'talk' button. Taking Sage's calls was something he had done before (especially when Sage's older sister Yayoi was calling).

"Hello?"

No reply.

"Hello?" Rowan tried again, this time a little louder. "Is anyone there?"

"Please," it was a girl's voice, high-pitched but pleasant, both sweet and troubled. "Please," she said again, "You must not get involved."

"What?" Rowan was confused.

"I don't want you to get hurt..."

"Who is this?"

Her voice was a whisper now. "I don't want you to die..."

Rowan just stood there in silence for a second. What was this girl talking about? Hurt? Die? He was about to question her further when suddenly the line went dead.

"Hello? Hello!" Nothing. Whoever had called was gone.

Rowan pressed the end key on the phone, staring at the small screen hoping to glean some kind of answer to the strange call from somewhere. He didn't understand. Who was that? Rowan tried the redial button, but to no avail. The number came up as 0000-0000, and all the Ronin heard on the other end was beeping. At last, after deducing that the solutions weren't forthcoming, Rowan closed the phone and finally threw the clothes into the dryer starting a cycle.

Mind wandering, the teen walked through the kitchen and to the couch where not even fifteen minutes ago he had been blissfully snoozing away in dreamland. _Had_ been. Sitting down heavily, Rowan proceeded to mull over the bizarre call. The first thought was that it could be one of his sisters trying to give their beloved brother a scare. A possibility, but not likely. Satsuki was just too good-natured and sweet to do such a thing, and if Yayoi wanted to do something to Sage, she would be much more direct about it. None of this 'ghost on the phone' stuff for her. Next was the speculation of it being one of the guys. No doubt Kento would jump at the opportunity to throw off the ever alert, ever aware Sage Date. The only problem there was that no way in all the heavens and hells could any of his friends ever sound like that girl did. And then there was the argument that it could have been a ghost. Illogical, yes, but Rowan had lived through too much to mark out the possibility. And so Rowan thought some more, the blow dryer's loud humming in the background.

Minutes passed, and after awhile Rowan had made up the best explanation he could: either whoever had called had the wrong number _or_ Kento, Ryo, Kento _and_ Ryo, or some other kid at school had paid someone to make the call and spook his nearly unspookable friend. The conclusion wasn't sturdy, but it would do.

He didn't want to believe that it could be anything else.

Rowan grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Right then he heard the bathroom door open.

From behind he heard, "Are my clothes in the dryer or should I choose from your closet?"

Rowan didn't turn around continuing to flip uncommittingly through the channels. "Dryer. They should be about done by now." He heard footsteps retreated towards the laundry room. Well, at least Sage was talking to him again. For thirty more minutes there was shuffling coming from the bathroom, then the kitchen, then his bedroom, then the kitchen again. Rowan demised that Sage had gone to go get his clothes, changed in the bathroom and touched up his hair some more, gone to the kitchen to heat up some water, gone to his room to pick out a 'suitable' coat and shoes (since he wasn't going to be wearing either of his anytime soon), and then gone back to the kitchen to take the boiling water off the stove to make tea with. Yup, he definately knew his friend too well.

True to form, Sage came out and sat in the chair adjacent to the couch—which Rowan was now sprawled out on—steaming cup of tea in hand.

After taking a sip, Sage said, "We'll go in just a little bit. As soon as I finish this. The storm should weaken a little by then."

" 'kay," Rowan answered lazily. He was feeling sleepy again. An easy silence fell between the two. Now that he was warm and dry, sitting in a comfortable chair drinking tea, all of Sage's animosity seemed to melt away. The memory was still there, but not the ire.

"Hey, is that my cell phone?"

Rowan looked up from his channel surfing, first at Sage, and then at the phone still in his hand. He hadn't even realized that he had been holding it this whole time.

"Uh, yeah. Here." Rowan tossed it lightly to Sage who caught it easily.

For a moment, he debated whether or not to tell Sage about the mysterious call. He did have a right to know. Afterall it was his phone. Rowan opened his mouth to say something then closed it. He'd tell him. But not tonight. Later. When he had thought over things a little bit more.

Sage finished his tea and, after rinsing out his cup and putting it in the dishwasher, grabbed his keys from the pocket of his trench still hanging by the door. Fitting himself into the long black coat he had picked out from Rowan's closet, he adjusted the collar in the mirror next to the front door. The black went well with the maroon red of his turtleneck.

"Ready?" Sage called to his friend who was only just now turning off the TV and rising from the couch.

"Yeah," Rowan stifled a yawn, "Let me make a quick call to the others telling them we're on our way."

Call made, Rowan put on his blue blazer and reached for the keys from the side table. Grabbing umbrellas, the two took a breath and rushed outside, Rowan locking the door as quickly as possible before turning and running after Sage who was already sprinting for the car. It was dark outside now, the clouds and rain only adding to the blackness.

As soon as the two occupants were inside the car, safe from the rain, Sage started the engine, turning the windsheild wipers on as high as they would go. The car backed out of the driveway and started down the road. Against their predictions, the rain was pouring harder than ever.

Visibility was poor to say the least. The windsheild wipers were going on the top setting and still Sage felt as if he were looking at the road in frame-by-frame action. It was like driving through a typhoon. And to make matters worse, some idiot behind him had his brights on making it even more difficult to see. Sage's grip tightened on the steering wheel. It seemed as if the universe had some personal vendetta against him not only this day, but the whole week.

For some reason, not just a few, but _all_ of his teachers had decided that this week was the perfect time to give a test. The school officials were either perfectly sycrenized to be able to plan such a diabolicle schedule, or they were completely unsyncrenized and in their own universes thinking that their students had their class and only their class to worry about. But it wasn't just school that had been playing on his patience. The dojo was in full swing preparing for a tournament coming the week following the next, and that meant putting in extra hours of practice. And in addition to these extra hours, he had also had to pick up the slack for one of the instructors who had inconvieniently caught the flu and was thus unable to make his classes. Sage just hoped that he got better soon.

Red traffic lights shone ahead. Sage eased the car to a stop hoping that the car behind him was doing the same. The last thing he needed tonight was to get into an accident. Rowan, who had been sleeping against the window in the passenger's seat, stirred.

"We there?"

"Not yet," Sage responded.

Rowan stretched his arms out and rubbed the sleep from his eyes for a second time that night. The bright lights glaring in the side view mirror made him bring a hand to his face. Squinting Rowan said, "How much longer until we get there?"

"Maybe fifteen minutes or so...if we can ever get through this light." Add long red lights to his list of greivances as well. Sage sighed, leaning over to rest his forhead on the wheel. The headache that had been building slowly over the week was now pulsing inside his head. The tea earlier had helped some, but it wasn't enough.

"You okay?" Rowan looked at the blonde concerned.

Sage's response was muffled, "Tell me when it turns green."

Rowan looked up towards the traffic light, "You've really got to get more rest."

Forhead still against the wheel, Sage turned so that he could look at Rowan, eyebrow raised, "I don't know whether it's sad or hilarious that _you're_ the one telling me that."

Rowan smiled back, pointing up ahead. "Light's green."

Raising himself from the wheel, Sage released the breaks and started the car forward. The two had left the city scape behind a few miles back, instead driving through the long expanse of dark forest that led to Ryo's house. And of course they had all decided to get together in the place that was the furthest away. Granted, the plans had been made _before_ anyone knew that it was going to rain this hard, but it was still frustrating nevertheless.

A sudden strong gust of wind blew against the side of the car, making Sage have to turn to the left to compensate. Was it possible that the storm was getting worse? Sage leaned forward, trying hard to concentrate. His foot went from the gas pedal to hovering just over the break. The road was sloping slightly downhill now and, with it as wet as the surface was, he didn't want to lose control and go flying off the side of the street and into a tree. He tapped on the breaks bringing his speed down to thirty. It was still too fast to his liking, but if he slowed down any more, he was afraid that the car behind might hit him. He stole a glance in his rearview mirror. The lights were too bright to be able to judge accurately just how far the trailing car was from him. Ten meters. Fifteen. More. Less. It was hard to say.

Sage brought his eyes back front. And then everything seemed to happen all at once.

There, running from the trees, came a young girl, bright in contrast to her dark surroundings, crossing right in the path of Sage's car. Adrenaline rushed from his spine to his head, catching his heart with it, making his brain scream. His muscles felt frozen, eyes glued to the figure that was just seconds from death. He was going to hit her. Oh god, he was going to hit her. He was going too fast. The rain had made the road too slick. There was no way, _no way_ he could stop in time. Why couldn't he move. _Move dammit! Do something! Anything! Just move!_

"Sage!"

Rowan's voice brought him out of his paralyzation. Reflexes kicked in and without thinking, Sage veered to the right hitting the breaks at the same time, hoping, praying that his inane driving instincts would move the car in the right direction.

The sound of skidding tires screeching broke through the pounding of his heart in his head. And then the car stopped. He had felt no impact. Did it work? Was that girl alright? Sage turned around to check, but all that he saw was a bright light. The other car...

Author's note:

Well, that's it. That my spur of the minute story. I literally have no idea where the hell this is going; the idea just came to me one night and I thought 'meh, might as well'. I probably going to continue this whether I get feedback or not, however, as to how quickly I finish this…well, the more encouragement I get the better.

The one thing that I would most appreciate however is some constructive criticism. So if you leave a review could you maybe please think of at least one thing (if not more) that I could improve on? You don't have to of course, but in the end it'll help me become a better writer and thus make the story more enjoyable.

So anyway…until next time…

Jaa.


End file.
